Harley Quinn executive producer Patrick Schumacker explained how the animated series gets away with its scenes and characterizations of DC heroes without much uproar from the higher-ups.
"I think, with the heroic characters — you know, there were certain elements to them that were sacrosanct," Schumaker told Digital Spy. "Even with, say, the Justice League and Superman and Wonder Woman and Batman in particular — any comedic sort of take that we had on those characters, we had to fall within the morality of that character."
The producer-writer elaborated on those "sacrosanct" characteristics, highlighting which ones the series decided to focus on. His version of Superman is seen as "a sort of boy scout dad joke-making sort of character" who is "almost too good to be true." Batman, on the other hand, is "the humorless wet blanket to Harley's clown."
Before the series premiered, Schumacker admitted he and DC were anxious about its reception with the fanbase, but the test screenings helped them to get over that. "Everyone seemed to really embrace it," he recalled. "I think that was sort of a weight lifted off of everyone's shoulders, including DC, you know, when they're hearing that their most devout fanbase is OK with these departures."
DC Universe's Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Diedrich Bader, Alan Tudyk, Rahul Kohli, Christopher Meloni, Tony Hale, Ron Funches, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander and J.B. Smoove. New episodes air on Fridays.